Monday, 26 December 2016

In his 1985 letter the Revd.
Montague Knott, on his retirement, wondered whether it would be his last
Christmas letter. His final Christmas
letter on file was 1994 but be lived to the age of 100 passing away in
2006. His funeral service was held at St
Laurence Church, Blackmore.

In 1986 he wrote, from his new
home in Ingatestone,”My beloved Blackmore and its people are only minutes away
by car. My successor in the cure of souls in Blackmore and Stondon Massey is
Martin Sellix, an able man, who, with his charming wife Pam, is making an
impact. He is helped by John Fleetwood, a retired cleric, who formerly gave me
such valuable help”. The highlight of
his year was a three-and-a-half week trip to the Republic of China, Hong Kong
and Thailand.

Despite being an octogenarian,
he still owned a car in 1987 which he described as “a must” for “filling in at
different churches within a radius of 10-15 miles”. He continued to take
baptisms, weddings and funerals “with great joy”. On 8th November he
began to take responsibility for Fryerning parish during its interregnum with
the parish service of Remembrance. Of
Blackmore, he reported, “My successor to the living at Blackmore is doing an
excellent job. Blackmore has suffered severely recently through a cloudburst
that caused a flash flood putting the village centre and the church under three
feet of water [August]. The damage must run into tens of thousands of pounds.
Only a week or so after we had the hurricane force winds which also did great
damage to buildings and the trees [October]”.

In 1988 “Canon Hudson, who was
Rector of Ingatestone when I moved to Blackmore in 1957, has announced his
decision to retire from Ingatestone and Buttsbury on the Feast of St Edmund, 20th
November. A decision has been made to create a team ministry of the parishes of
Ingatestone, Buttsbury, Fryerning and Margaretting, with a team rector and an
assistant priest. The Reverend Philip Coulton has had the care of a group of
parishes in the Diocese of Lincoln and he to be made Priest in Charge of the
four parishes until his assistant is found. Philip Coulton is coming to us in
February next”. He added that “Serving
the congregation and parish of Fryerning has been a joy”. Of Blackmore “Martin Sellix has been building
up the congregation. From time to time I find myself back in Blackmore, generally
visiting friends. The head teacher of the County Primary School, Mr Howard
Jones, with whom I worked as Chairman of the Governers for a number of years,
retired at the end of last term. … Peter Hunt, who was my Lay Reader for years
at Blackmore, is moving to Ingatestone. It will be pleasant to see more of him
and his wife Joy. … Peter was invited to become Pastor of the Baptist
Congregation in Blackmore, which he has done.
It seems that both congregations in Blackmore are growing”.

In 1989, Montagu Knott
reported that after a very short retirement, Canon Edward Hudson, “died of
cancer and a service of thanksgiving was held on Monday 16th January
last”. Christopher Martin came to
Fryerning and Margaretting to be Team Vicar, joining Philip Coulton, Team
Rector at Ingatestone and Buttsbury.

By 1990 Montagu Knott regarded
Fryerning as his own church for worship. “Speaking of parish churches, my
successor as Vicar of Blackmore, Rev. Martin Sellix seems to be doing an
excellent job. There was a flash flood which brought 3 feet of water into the
church. Then later came wind damage to the roof which had to be re-tiled. The
refurbishment has been costly but has been excellently carried out”.

More clergy changes were
reported in the 1991 letter. Christopher Martin was moving in the New Year from
Fryerning and Margaretting to the Diocese of St Albans. “The Church of England
is having to reduce the number of its paid clergy”. Soon Mountnessing would be
added to the overall charge of Philip Coulton.

1992: “I keep in touch with
Sister Pamplin who nursed my dear wife in her last illness. We meet several
times in the course of a year. Pam acts as deputy to the warden of a block of
flats occupied by elderly people”. At
Fryerning, Revd. John D. Brown had been appointed incumbent for a period of
five years.

In 1993 having passed his 88th
birthday he wrote, “I have given up taking services. My memory lets me down. I
am able to attend church locally on a regular basis and value the fellowship I
receive”. Of Blackmore, “From time to
time I meet up with The Jericho 60+ Club, which I helped to found in Blackmore
when I was Parish Priest. I try to join their day trips to places of interest
as well as occasional visits to the club’s ordinary meetings. My friend Joan
Hobbs, who is a leading light in Blackmore and Chair of the Jericho 60+ Club,
also a founder member, keeps very active and kindly helps me to retain my links
with the club”.

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Blackmore Area Local History

I am a keen amateur local historian who has always lived in the CM4 postal district (Ingatestone and Blackmore).
I am currently running an interim blog for the Essex Society for Archaeology and History - see esah160.blogspot.co.uk - and have recently completed a Certificate in Local History at the University of Essex.
The purpose of this blog (which began in 2007) and partner website is simply to encourage everyone to consider, explore and learn about their local heritage and history. The Internet is a marvellous resource and enables people from around the corner and around the world to share.
Enjoy the journey of discovery.